Tips for Clicks - Resources (McCann & Cambrian E-Media Services)





*Resources*


		Handy Resources for Web Site Development & Marketing! You make a living by what you get, but you make a life by what you give. - Unknown Knowing how people use the Internet is the key to developing a marketing strategy. The Internet gives small business a great fighting chance in competing against large business corporations whose branding is nationally and internationally recognized. This fact can only work to the advantage and benefit of small and medium sized business when there is the understanding of how the general public - the consumer - makes use of the Internet, and developing a marketing plan accordingly. Studies show that search engines are the number one source for finding content on the web. Having a unique, easy-to-remember, catchy domain name is not very helpful if no one knows what it is. Such a domain name works to its full advantage after the public becomes aware and confident of it - See Branding. In this section there are various resources to help drive traffic to your web site. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the art and science of optimizing a web site making it not only search engine friendly but virtually allowing the web site to "speak for itself" when a search engine comes calling. In speaking for itself, the web site is allowed to put its best foot forward, sell itself and specifically educate search engines about its true nature and content. In this matter the web site is able to convey its importance and its relevance to search engines. For more on SEO, see Web Marketing. The resources below refer to outside and independent services and parties web site owners may consider to help drive traffic to their sites. Pay-Per-Click Strategies Pay per click (PPC) advertising is growing at a fast pace. Companies may well be spending over $8 billion annually on PPC advertising by 2008. Although there are roughly 15 major pay per click search engines, the most traffic generated is by Google, Yahoo!, and MSN. As time goes on, specialty PPC advertising opportunities will be more and more available. For example, there are comparison shopping search engines that charge on a cost-per-click (CPC) basis. There are also Business to Business search engines. Again knowing as much about your target market as possible and as well, how it uses the Internet should help you decide on which PPC campaign or campaigns to go with. Google AdWords https://adwords.google.com/select/ Yahoo! Search Marketing http://searchmarketing.yahoo.com/srch/index.php Microsoft adCenter: Online advertising platform for MSN Search http://advertising.msn.com/microsoft-adcenter Directory Submissions DMoz - The Open Directory Project (ODP) is a multilingual open content directory of web links. DMoz (originally Directory.Mozilla.org) is constructed and maintained by a world-wide community of volunteer editors. It is said to be the largest and most comprehensive human-edited directory of the Internet. Human editors are better able to sort and organize the Internet by manually reviewing, authenticating and categorizing site submissions. This project was founded in the spirit of the Open Source movement. It is the only major directory that is completely free allowing for site submissions and use of the directory's data at no charge. Major search engines do make use of the data here and many encourage those who want to submit a site to navigate directly to the DMoz web site. DMoz Open Directory Project http://dmoz.org/ Reciprocal Link Building A reciprocal link is very simply two independent web sites with links to each other. Reciprocal links are also known as link swaps, link exchanges and link partners. Building reciprocal links will help you in two ways. Certainly they help invite and boost traffic to your web site, but reciprocal links are considered votes by search engines. A fair number of links to your site from other web sites of similar and even not so similar content can get the attention of major search engines when ranking your site. However, it is not just the quantity, but also the quality of sites containing links to your own web site that makes a difference in ranking results. Sites that are rich in relevant content and enjoy the benefit of votes (link backs) from other web sites, and such sites with high click through ratios carry much weight in voting for your own site. The task of finding good, quality, relevant sites to link to your own site can be very tedious and time-consuming leading to more frustration that it's worth. Consider the falling tips and suggestions: First think about who you know on the web and get in touch with each asking for a link to your site. You should be willing to provide the same. If you belong to a local business association, chamber of commerce, or club inquire you may be entitled to a link on their respective web sites. As a player in commerce, such as a retailer or wholesaler, or authorized dealer you may find that the companies you buy from and/or sell to would consider including a link to your site. Keep in mind that you don't want to turn any part of your site into a "link farm". You would respect that others would not want to risk the same. It is recommended that no more than 100 links per page should be maintained. Search engines begin to ignore such pages and may begin to ignore your site. If the content on your site is conducive to providing a number of links or resources, organize the links and spread them over separate web pages. In so far as searching for other link partners, refer to major search engines like Google and Yahoo! looking for web sites that complement your own, but do not directly compete with your site. After finding appropriate sites, examine their pages with links (example: look for pages titled Related Links, Suggested Links, Resources, etc.). Examine your competitors' web sites looking for the same. When you begin to discover sites which are potential reciprocal link partners, contact the company and/or web site's webmaster with a friendly, brief, but personal note asking for a link. They may be pleased to hear from you and welcome a link back from your site as well. Make sure you provide them with your name, contact information, web site URL, and a brief description of your site. Also advise the recipient where you plan to include their link on your site. Extra Reading Resources PPCA: Pay Per Click Analyst http://www.payperclickanalyst.com/ More to follow.... (May 2006)